The start lists for the 2014 World Swimming Championships in Short Course Meters have been posted, and Hungarian Katinka Hosszu has taken on another maniacal schedule.
Note that no Australians are entered on the first draft of the psych sheet, so expect changes in seeding to happen.
Hosszu is entered in 10 individual events across 5 days of competition. While she’s used to taking on such huge schedules, and even bigger, in two day World Cup meets, the World Championships will require a much bigger effort output in prelims to advance with deeper fields.
Her lineup (in order):
- 200 fly
- 100 back
- 400 IM
- 100 IM
- 800 free
- 200 back
- 400 free
- 50 back
- 200 IM
- 200 free
At the World Short Course Championships, all 50 and 100 meter races have semi-finals, while races 200 meters and longer are prelims-finals. That means in her individual events, Hosszu will have up to 23 races over five days. Hungary’s women have entered a women’s 800 free relay and two mixed relays, which could add up to 6 more events to her lineup.
What’s maybe most intriguing, though, is how much Hosszu has shifted from the butterfly to the backstroke events in the last year. While undoubtedly, it’s partially because of the meet schedule, Hosszu is not swimming the 50 or 100 fly in Doha; rather she’s swimming just the 200 fly, then adding the 50, 100, and 200 meter backstrokes. She is the top seed in the two sprint events by a relatively healthy margin and the #2 seed in the 200. Expect Mie Nielsen from Denmark to close the gap on her a little in the sprints, but all three are Hosszu’s race to lose.
The closest male equivalent will be American Ryan Lochte, who has 6 individual events:
- 200 free
- 100 fly
- 50 fly
- 200 IM
- 100 IM
- 200 back
Lochte will also likely play some part in all three American relays as well. He has won 6 gold medals at each of the last two Short Course World Championship meets.
Russian Vlad Morozov has a slightly-expanded schedule from the just two races he was initially announced to be swimming, but he’s still not swimming the 100 free. Morozov’s entries:
- 100 back
- 50 free
- 50 back
- 100 IM
The 100 IM enters him at a 51.20 as the second seed behind only the World Record holder and three-time defending champion Lochte. Lochte is the three-time defending champion in both the 100 and 200 IM’s, but will face a brutal field there in Doha: perhaps the best he’s ever seen. That includes Japan’s Kosuke Hagino, who’s entered individually in the 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 IM, and 100 IM. He will attempt to pull of the sweep similar to what Lochte did in 2010.
The male dominator of the World Cup series, opposite Hosszu, is South African Chad le Clos. He has just four individual entries:
- 200 free
- 100 fly
- 50 fly
- 200 fly
This schedule aligns with his continued paring-back of event entries, though he’s much more versatile than these four events let on, in a presumed attempt to chase World Records.
See the full entry lists as of November 30th here. (It’s a large file, be patient when opening).
I know Hozzu is the energizer bunny and she’s always a medal contender, but with the 800 smack in the middle of the meet that’ll be extra tough. The 800’s not a timed final for the top 8 seeds is it? She seems to prefer the challenge of trying to medal in many events over the challenge of medaling higher in a smaller number of events. Even so, she’s still a favorite for several golds, eh.
Note that Katie Drabot is seeded pretty high in the 200 Free, despite her advanced age of 115.
There is no women’s 4×100 fr or 4×50 mr?
They seem to not having any Australian Individual entries listed…. lets hope that they are all entered and that it was just a mistake!
Lauren – that’s a safe bet. There’s frequently lots of errors on the first draft of these psych sheets from FINA.
Ryan Lochte’s year of birth is 1899, among many others. Serious athletic longevity!